This Week In Waste – August 15, 2025
Welcome to This Week in Waste, a series by Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) that highlights how taxpayer dollars are being wasted in the federal, state, and local levels of government and efforts to fight back against this spendthrift behavior.
GAO Reconfirms Federal IT Must Be Modernized
The federal government spends more than $100 billion each fiscal year on information technology (IT), 80 percent of which is used to operate existing systems, some of which are outdated. A July 2025 Government Accountability Office report to the House Oversight and Government Affairs Committee found 69 IT systems in need of modernization, 11 of which are categorized as critical. Many of these systems use old languages like COBOL and have serious cybersecurity risks. Read more here.
Senate HELP Committee Highlights Need to Reform 340B
The 340B drug discount program, intended to help low-income patients, is being abused by large hospitals and contract pharmacies to boost profits. During the July 31, 2025, Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing, Chairman Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Sen. Jon Husted (R-Ohio) exposed how this misuse drives up healthcare costs. Read more here.
Senate Bill Would Terminate USDA’s Community Connect Grant Program
Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) introduced S. 2610 on July 31, 2025, which would eliminate the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s wasteful Community Connect Grant program. The program is intended to provide funding for broadband in rural areas, but it duplicates other federal initiatives. Sen. Ernst’s proposal aligns with her “Make ‘Em Squeal” agenda to cut unnecessary spending. Read more here.
Pres. Trump Signs Executive Order to Enable Competition in Commercial Space Industry
President Trump’s August 13, 2025, executive order (EO) to streamline commercial space regulations will accelerate innovation and reduce bureaucratic delays. The EO promotes space industry privatization in line with long-standing recommendations from the Grace Commission report. CAGW’s 2022 Space Issue brief, “The Future of American Aerospace,” reiterated that the private sector is better positioned than the federal government to lead in space. The EO will increase efficiency and promote competition. Read more here.
Chairman Arrington Sounds Alarm as U.S. Debt Surpasses $37 Trillion
The U.S. national debt has surged past $37 trillion five years ahead of the Congressional Budget Office’s 2020 projection that it would not occur until 2030. House Budget Committee Chairman Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) warned that interest payments on the debt are now outpacing defense and Medicare spending. It leaves little doubt that Congress must continue to cut wasteful spending to prevent a devastating debt crisis. Read more here.
Unfunded state pensions continue to pose the next big tax threat
A $1.3 trillion state pension crisis threatens taxpayers nationwide, driven by bureaucratic mismanagement. In 2012, CAGW reported that state and local government pensions had an unfunded liability of more than $1 trillion, with an additional $1 trillion in unfunded liabilities in health care benefits. This situation has only gotten worse. The Equable Institute’s “State of Pensions 2025” report released in July found that public pensions have “persistently underperformed … by approximately 50 basis points annually.” Recent tax reforms and increased accountability measures show promise, but they are not enough. Read more here.
Legislators Investigate California’s Unlawful Implementation of an EV Mandate
Despite three Congressional Review Act resolutions blocking California’s EV mandates, the state continues enforcing preempted regulations in violation of the Clean Air Act. House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.), Subcommittee on Environment Chairman Gary Palmer (R-Ala.), and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman John Joyce (R-Pa.) warn this will raise costs, strain the grid, and increase dependence on China. Read more here.
Inoperable Kiosks at Taxpayer Assistance Centers
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) wasted $500,000 annually on a kiosk contractor that failed to keep machines working at Taxpayer Assistance Centers. An August 8, 2025, Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) report found 40 kiosks out of 100 were inoperable, and their usage had dropped sharply. After TIGTA raised concerns, the IRS quietly canceled the contract and ended the program. Read more here.
